EDITS.WS

Tag: News

  • WordPress Developers Are Experimenting With Gutenberg-Native AI Block and Content Assistants

    As more WordPress plugins for AI-generated content and images, chatbots, and assistants, are landing in the official directory, developers are beginning to explore even deeper integration with the block editor. Moving beyond the prototypical content generators that are cobbled together into a plugin, the tools developers are experimenting with today will provide a more deeply integrated experience that works seamlessly with the block editor as a natural extension of its capabilities.

    Last week Human Made CTO Joe Hoyle published an early preview of generative AI natively integrated into the block editor with a video demonstrating prompts working across various blocks.

    “Taking a native-first approach to integrating generative AI into WordPress, we’ve been experimenting with approaches to a ‘WordPress Copilot’ that can ‘speak’ Gutenberg / block-editor,” Hoyle said.

    “Copy-pasting paragraphs between ChatGPT and WordPress only goes so far, while having the tools directly embedded in the editor for block layout generation, auto-linking, formatting, translation summarization and more open up a world of possibilities and productivity wins for content creators.”

    Munir Kamal, WordPress developer and founder of Gutenberg Hub, has created a native AI writer with a similar UI to the tool Hoyle previewed, as they both were inspired by the Notion app. His preview video demonstrates far more capabilities than the earlier AI content generators for WordPress have implemented.

    Kamal has tapped into the GPT API to add more options to the AI writer, including the ability to rewrite, improve the generated text, fix grammar, simplify language, make it shorter, make it longer, and translate. He plans to release it as a commercial plugin in his Gutenberg Hub shop when it’s ready.

    “With the increasing advancements in AI technology, thanks to OpenAI for taking the leap, I believe it will become an even more integral part of blogging,” Kamal said when asked about AI and the future of blogging. “It can assist in generating ideas, improving grammar and structure, and even help with SEO optimization.

    Hoyle is equally optimistic on the future of AI integrated into WordPress tools. It will be exciting to see if his Gutenberg-native AI copilot can be extended to blocks inside the Site Editor, to offer a text prompt-guided design experience without having to click through the tools.

    “Going through this project has convinced me that LLMs [Large Language Model] have much more potential than I was giving them credit for,” Hoyle said. “It feels like there’s still a lot to discover what the models are capable of.

    “As the availability to GPT-4 (and with it larger token limits) increases, we see a clear path of improvement to what we’ve shown today. The data and information that is stored and available to the Content Management System is ideal for model-training and building a corpus of data specific to the user. Generating, improving and suggesting content of all types that is specific to the data set will be another lead forward in the utility of these tools. We see a future where AI will support and enhance the work we all do, and see the necessity to integrate the technology deeply into the tools and solutions we create.”

  • ACF 6.1 Adds Custom Post Types and Custom Taxonomies

    This week, popular plugin Advanced Custom Fields (ACF), announced the release of version 6.1. 

    This update marks a huge win for functionality of the plugin and WordPress development as a whole.

    Site developers can now register custom post types and custom taxonomies from within the plugin. Having the functionality directly within the ACF dashboard not only saves time, it cuts down on the number of plugins needed to power a site. This exciting update significantly expands the features of both the free version and ACF Pro. All users can enjoy this historic new phase of ACF.

    Let’s dive into the exciting new features and see what’s next for the plugin.

    Streamlined Workflow 

    Developers can often lose a lot of time switching between different plugins or command lines. By including custom post types and custom taxonomies directly within the ACF interface, users don’t have the headache of continually leaving and coming back. 

    This update has been a long time coming. According to the release announcement, users have been asking for this functionality for years, “Registering CPTs and taxonomies has been on our roadmap for quite some time. When Delicious Brains acquired the plugin from Elliot, the first email we sent our users was to ask them the top 3 things they wanted to see in the plugin. CPTs and taxonomies in the plugin was right up there in the top five requests.”

    Eliminating plugins makes your site faster and more secure, and not having to leave the dashboard to register custom post types or taxonomies will save tons of time.

    The process is incredibly quick and easy. Post types and taxonomies are right at the top, and you can register them just like you would register fields. 

    Take a look:

    Screenshot of custom post types in ACF 6.1
    Screenshot of taxonomies in 6.1

    Switching between plugins or command lines can lead to confusion and even errors. Having this functionality directly in the dashboard is going to streamline the development process. 

    On top of CPT and taxonomies, the update comes with improved test coverage, customized field setting tabs, translations, a security fix, and more. 

    About ACF

    ACF has over 4.5 million active users and has been a pillar in the WordPress community. The plugin along with other Delicious Brains plugins were acquired by WP Engine in 2022, and since then has maintained a commitment to finding powerful ways for WordPress developers to create sites. 

    The release marks a new generation of ACF users. By addressing the huge pain point WordPress development will be even more efficient. Huge shout out to the developers and testers who made this release possible. 

    The update is live now. 

    The post ACF 6.1 Adds Custom Post Types and Custom Taxonomies appeared first on Torque.

  • Gutenberg 15.5 Introduces Experimental Grid Layout Support

    Gutenberg 15.5 was released this week with more new features and refinements to WordPress’ full-site editing capabilities. The project will soon be moving on to Phase 3 with real-time collaboration on the roadmap, but there are still many improvements on the way for the Site Editor and core blocks.

    This release introduces experimental support for grid layouts in the Group block. Gutenberg contributors are testing a Grid layout type as a new variation for the Group block. They decided on this implementation instead of a new block in order to get more real-world use on the first iteration.

    After testing, I found the Grid layout type fits as a natural addition to other Group variations. This first iteration ships with one setting for configuring the minimum column width, but more options can be added in the future. I found it to be far easier to manipulate than the Columns block for basic grids. It may be easier for users to discover and understand if it were implemented as a new block, with the grouping implicit instead of having to add a Group block first and then select a layout.

    Grid layouts are a common feature of page builder plugins and this new capability is necessary to make Gutenberg’s page building capabilities more robust. With more testing, contributors can settle on an implementation and build it out from there. If you want to give it a try, the Grid variation for the Group block can be enabled under Gutenberg > Experiments.

    Gutenberg 5.5 also introduces the ability for theme authors to identify a custom pattern to be displayed when users load a specific template, such as a 404 page, author page, or single post, instead of relying on a fallback template or starting from a blank slate. This makes it possible to have custom patterns as template starters, a friendlier jumping off point for users who are editing their sites.

    The update brings the ability for users to style their Captions in the Styles interface. Captions’ color, typography, and size can now be easily edited with changes applied globally.

    image credit: Gutenberg 5.5 release post

    A few other important updates in this release include the following:

    • New Post Modified Date variation for the Post Date block lets users display the post’s most recent date updated
    • Sticky Position: New “Make sticky” action added to the Template Part block
    • Buttons: Disabled support for “edit as HTML” in block options
    •  Time to Read block adds spacing and typography support
    • Columns block adds support for template locking
    • “Image size” replaced with “Resolution” in image size controls

    Check out the changelog in the release post for a full list of all the bug fixes, enhancements, and performance, documentation, and code quality improvements.

  • WordPress Mobile Apps Get a New Support Forum

    Support for the WordPress mobile apps is moving to the WordPress.org forums. Previously, users were routed to WordPress.com, even those who were self-hosted, and Automattic employees handled support tickets related to the mobile apps.

    This move to WordPress.org is part of an effort to disentangle the official WordPress mobile apps from Automattic’s services. In July 2022, the Mobile Team announced it will be pulling all the Jetpack and WordPress.com features from the official WordPress mobile apps and moving them into the Jetpack app.

    Although the mobile apps previously had forums on an older bbPress installation, they were rarely used as those in need of helped were piped through the WordPress.com support queue. The new mobile support forum is listed on the Support page and is already active with requests regarding app crashes, XML-RPC errors, and issues with core blocks.

    Bringing mobile support to a public place has the advantage of allowing users to help each other, search through old threads, and look for answers in the same way they do for problems with themes or plugins. It standardizes the support experience so users know what to expect. The Meta trac ticket for the forum creation has been closed now that the initiative is complete and the forum is operational.

  • Preferred Languages Feature Plugin Needs Testing

    The Preferred Languages project is gaining some momentum with this week’s 2.0 release of the feature plugin. In 2017, WordPress Core Committer Pascal Birchler released a prototype that lets users select multiple preferred languages in their settings so that WordPress will load the first translation available, falling back to the next language in the list.

    “More than half of all WordPress sites in the world use a language other than US English,” Birchler said in a previous update. “For these sites and users, the options to change the site and user language are great. But when there’s no translation for a given plugin or theme, WordPress falls back to US English. That’s a poor user experience for many non-English speakers.”

    Version 2.0 introduces some major changes with a full refactoring of the UI to use React. (Previously it was using jQuery and jQuery UI.) Birchler removed the drag and drop sorting functionality to improve accessibility but users should find that almost everything the plugin still looks the same as before.

    This update also brings compaibility with with WP_Textdomain_Registry and switch_to_user_locale() for users on WordPress 6.1+ and brings unit test coverage to nearly 100%.

    The Preferred Languages plugin has more than 2,000 active installs but Birchler is calling for people to test the update, as he believes the plugin is close to a core merge proposal.

    “One big remaining question mark is the concept of translation merging,” he said. “By default, if there are only some missing strings in a selected locale, these would be displayed in English. But with translation merging, the missing strings will be taken from the locale next in line instead. While this works great, it could be a tad slow due to the way translations are loaded in WordPress. Any help addressing this potential performance concern would be greatly appreciated.”

    Testers can contribute to the code on GitHub, leave feedback on the support forum, and open new issues to submit bug reports. Getting this project into core will make using WordPress and its plugin and theme ecosystems more accessible for non-English speakers.

  • ACF 6.1 Adds Support for Registering Custom Post Types and Taxonomies

    ACF (Advanced Custom Fields) version 6.1 was released this week with support for creating Custom Post Types and Taxonomies. This is a long-awaited feature that users have been asking for since the earliest days of the plugin when it was still developed by its original author, Elliot Condon.

    When Delicious Brains acquired the plugin, the ACF community reiterated this feature request. WP Engine kept it on the roadmap when they acquired ACF in June 2022 and has finally been able to deliver. Registering post types and taxonomies is now available through a simple interface that works in a similar way to creating field groups and fields.

    After registering the CPT, users can then add an existing or new field group for it or create a taxonomy, and move on from there. The advantage is that users don’t have to break their workflows and use a different plugin for this functionality. For those managing client websites, it is one fewer plugin required.

    “We know there are a large number of ACF users registering custom post types (CPTs) and creating custom fields for them,” WP Engine Senior Product Manager Iain Poulson said. “But they have to register the CPTs either manually with code or using another plugin. The overarching workflow of modeling the data needed for a site build is fragmented between different plugins, UIs, and user experiences. We wanted to fix that!”

    The ACF development team has also created a dedicated import tool for users who want to migrate post types and taxonomies from the Custom Post Type UI (CPTUI) plugin to ACF in order to manage them all from one plugin. ACF has also built in the ability to disable post types and taxonomies from the plugin admin in case users do not require this feature in the update.

    ACF reports more than 4.5 million users, so it will be interesting to see how having this built in will impact the CPTUI user base, which is active on more than a million websites. Some users simply need custom post types but won’t require all of ACF’s capabilities, but there is certainly a large overlap between the two plugins.

    After expanding well beyond the creation of custom fields with this and previous updates, Poulson said they will be referring to the plugin as “ACF” more going forward. The plugin’s admin sidebar menu has been updated from “Custom Fields” to ACF.

    Version 6.1 also includes the following highlights and important changes:

    • New ‘browse fields’ button opens a modal to search and showcase all field types
    • Post Object, Page Link and Relationship fields now support filtering by post status
    •  Full compatibility with PHP versions 8.1 and 8.2
    • New option to filter field settings tabs so other plugins can add custom tabs and arrange their fields
    • Security fix backported to ACF 5.12.5 for a security issue where ACF might unserialize maliciously manipulated data which instantiates a class

    All of these new features are available in both the free version and ACF Pro. Check out the changelog for the full rundown of everything included in version 6.1.

  • iThemes Rebrands to SolidWP

    iThemes, one of the oldest brands in WordPress that originally launched around theme products nearly 15 years ago, is rebranding to SolidWP. Over the years, the company’s products became increasingly centered on plugins, yet the old brand had so much name recognition that its leadership was not quick to change it.

    “iThemes is known today for security, backups, and site maintenance – none of which are well-represented in the name ‘iThemes,’” StellarWP Senior Director of Ops and Marketing Matt Cromwell said. “Additionally, the brand evokes the early 2000’s Apple era of technology, and we want to look toward the future.”

    This week the company kicked off a “rebrand in public” approach to updating its identity to be more aligned with promoting iThemes’ key offerings – its security, backup, syncing, and educational products. They will all be rebranded to the following:

    • Solid Security
    • Solid Backups
    • Solid Central
    • Solid Academy

    “This shift in branding signifies our renewed focus on providing a solid foundation for every WordPress website,” Cromwell said. “Our whole team, as well as our products, will pivot to focus on security, backups, site maintenance, and training as we enhance and improve our solutions for all of our users.”

    The rebranding is a massive undertaking, as the company’s products have millions of users and years worth of articles, webinars, eBooks, and tutorials. SolidWP will present reworked pricing and retire some legacy products in the process.

    “Currently on ithemes.com you’ll find a lot of products that are either part of a bundle, or sold on other websites in a variety of ways,” Cromwell said in the FAQ section of the announcement. “Some products will continue to thrive on their own, and others will be retired. We plan on reviewing publicly the complete inventory of our current products and bundles and working with the community to shape what the future plan is for each.”

    The company is not planning to increase prices on its products at this time but Cromwell said they reserve the right to adjust pricing as needed. iThemes will also be consulting its community regarding products that are slated to be retired.

    “We will continue to support any and all who land in our support queue with our best efforts and service,” Cromwell said. “The official end-of-life for the products being sunset will be discussed with the community and decided on before the full launch of our new brand.”

  • Twitter Suspends WordPress.com’s Access to Twitter API, Breaking Jetpack Social Sharing

    Twitter suspended WordPress.com’s access to the Twitter API without notice yesterday. Representatives at WordPress.com do not know why their access is currently blocked but are working to regain it.

    The API enables features like Jetpack Social’s Twitter connection. Users who rely on this Jetpack module to auto-tweet their published posts will see errors in the dashboard until this issue is resolved.

    WordPress.com advised that reconnecting will not work at this time, nor will trying to establish a new connection. Connections to other social networks are still operational.

    On large publishing sites some authors may not be aware that the auto-tweet functionality is broken. For the time being, the solution is to manually tweet published posts.

    Jetpack users reported the issue in the plugin’s support forums 10 hours ago, as some of them are Jetpack Social paid subscribers. In October 2022, Jetpack announced a paid plan for its Social plugin and limited the free version to 30 social shares per month, a controversial monetization decision that left many users in search of alternatives.

    Several users asked if refunds will be coming their way if the fix for the issue is not forthcoming, as auto-sharing to Facebook and Twitter is one of the main reasons customers subscribe to the service.

    “We are aware of issue and are looking into it with Twitter, but at this stage we don’t know when it will be fixed,” a Jetpack support representative responded to customers. “We’re working with Twitter to find the best solution possible.”

    Twitter launched its new API access tiers on March 29, 2023. Access to the Enterprise tier requires an application process. Over the next 30 days Twitter is deprecating its previous access tiers and is encouraging developers to migrate to the new tiers as soon as possible to avoid disruption.

  • Anders Norén Releases Abisko, a New Free WordPress Theme with 30+ Block Patterns

    Designer and developer Anders Norén has released a new free block theme called Abisko, created to fully support the new design features available in the latest WordPress 6.2 release. The theme was named for one of Norén’s favorite stomping grounds, Abisko national park, where he hikes every summer.

    Abisko places a strong emphasis on both images and typography, featuring the geometric “Plus Jakarta Sans” font for both headings and paragraph text. Plus Jakarta Sans was designed by Gumpita Rahayu from Tokotype in 2020. It seems to be gaining popularity and was mostly recently featured in the free Lemmony theme we reviewed last month. Plus Jakarta Sans is available as a free variable font and also on Google Fonts.

    At a font weight of 800, Abisko’s H1 and H2 headings make a major statement in the design across the various templates and patterns. Norén contrasts this with liberal use of whitespace so it doesn’t end up feeling overbearing.

    Abisko includes five different style variations, with unique color palettes that will change the entire look and feel of the site. These are found under Appearance > Editor and can be accessed through the Styles panel and applied globally when editing any template.

    Abisko packages more than 30 patterns for users to mix and match in creating pages. These include a grid with logo types, various artfully designed gallery layouts, contact section, various calls-to-action, hero patterns with images and background colors, testimonials grid, FAQ section, features list, a pricing table, large numbered lists, a wide separator with vertical margins, and more.

    The theme also has five full-page layouts available as patterns: About Us, Contact Us, FAQ, Front Page, and a Linktree style page.

    The evolution of WordPress themes, becoming fully editable and packaged with style variations and dozens of patterns, means there is no single screenshot that can fully represent what a theme might look like. Check out the live demo to see what is possible and the page that previews all the block patterns.

    “Same as most block themes, Abisko is really lightweight and fast,” Norén said in a post introducing his theme. “It has a small CSS file, includes no JavaScript at all, and uses locally hosted variable fonts to keep external requests and page size at a minimum.”

    Abisko is available for free on WordPress.org. Although Norén said he designed it with travel blogs in mind, it’s flexible for many different use cases, including agencies, portfolios, businesses, and personal websites.

  • WooCommerce to Host Virtual Contributor Day April 19, 2023

    WooCommerce has announced a 24-hour virtual contributor day that will happen on April 19, 2023. Contributors will be working on the WooCommerce Core and WooCommerce Blocks repositories. To give better coverage over time zones, organizers will have two kickoff times (0 UTC and 12 UTC).

    WooCommerce hasn’t had a WooConf in-person conference since 2017, opting instead for virtual events like WooSesh where people can attend and watch presentations for free. The open source project has focused more on virtual communication channels to help contributors stay connected, such as the new monthly chat focused on WooCommerce block extensibility. This virtual contribution day will be the first of its kind for WooCommerce.

    “We are asking for a minimum of 4 hours of your time to dedicate to a curated list of issues,” WooCommerce developer advocate Stephanie Pi said. “These issues have been selected based on the effort needed to solve them –we’re only including issues that we believe can be solved within the day.

    “Any issues picked up and worked on during contributor day will be merged before the next release. We are committed to making sure this happens because we want to honor the time our community is dedicating to this event.”

    The virtual event will be a more intense, focused time than what one might experience at a WordCamp contributor day, with key WooCommerce decision makers present to help keep things moving.

    Organizers will be creating new channels in the WooCommerce Community Slack, that will be dedicated to the different issues they plan to work on during the 24-hour event. This includes a channel for helping contributors get set up with a development environment. Those interested to attend can watch for updates in the #announcements channel.